DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
PRIOR ART
The following references are prior art:
1. Appl. No. 19/152,111 (hereinafter “Kar”) is prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) since it published as US 2026/0230912 A1, names another inventor (Dimitrios Karampatsis of Lenovo), and was effectively filed May 2, 2023 before Sep. 25, 2023 the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Kar’s foreign priority document is provided as an appendix.
CLAIM REJECTIONS — 35 U.S.C. 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
35 U.S.C. 102 Conditions for patentability; novelty.
(a) NOVELTY; PRIOR ART.—A person shall be entitled to a patent unless—
(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
CLAIMS 1-20
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kar for the reasons given below.
Claim 1
With respect to claim 1, Kar disclosed:
A method for operating a User Plane Function (UPF) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising a process of transmitting Packet Data Unit (PDU) Set-related information and information for indicating the PDU Set-related information to a Radio Access Network (RAN) through a GTP-U extension header ([0008] There is further provided a method performed by a User Plane Function (UPF), the method comprising: receiving a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) in a downlink direction the received PDU subject to PDU-set processing according to configuration information received from a Session Management Function (SMF) wherein the configuration information comprises a protocol description… The method further comprises creating a header for the received PDU, the header including PDU-set information… The method further comprises routing the received PDU and the header to a radio access network. [0106] FIG. 8 illustrates an overview of a core network (CN) XRM architecture handling of PDU sets. [0110] At 883, the SMF 820 establishes a QoS flow according to the QoS rules by the PCF 815 and configures the UPF to route packets of the XR application to a QoS flow, and, in addition, to enable PDU set handling. [0111] At 884, the UPF 840 inspects the packets and determines packets belonging to a PDU set. The packet inspection may comprise inspecting the RTP packets. When the UPF 840 detects packets of a PDU set the UPF 840 marks the packets belonging to a PDU set within a GTP-U header. The GTP-U header information includes a PDU set sequence number and the size of the PDU set. The UPF 840 may also determine the importance of the PDU set either based on UPF 840 implementation means, information provided by the XRM AF 810 or information provided as metadata from an XRM application server. Based on the importance of the PDU set the UPF 840 may route the traffic to a corresponding QoS flow 1 ( according to the rules received from the SMF 820) or include the importance of the PDU set within a GTP-U header. QoS flow 1 may comprise GTP-U headers, and these may include PDU set information.),
wherein the information for indicating the PDU Set-related information comprises a PDU type, a QoS Flow Identifier (QFI), a PDU Set Size Indicator (PSSI), an End Data Burst Indicator (EDBT), a PDU Set Sequence Number (PSSN), and a PDU Sequence Number within a PDU Set (PSN) [0070] In the context ofXR media traffic, 3GPP SA2 WG recently introduced the concept of End of Burst Indication (EOBI) for signaling to the Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) the end of a data burst of multiple PDUs for XR media traffic. [0108] At 881, the XRM Application Function 810 provides QoS requirements for packets of a PDU set to the PCF 815 and information to identify the application (i.e. 5-tuple or application id). The QoS requirements may comprise PSDB and PSER. The XRM AF 810 may also include an importance parameter for a PDU set and information for the core network to identify packets belonging to a PDU set. [0109] At 882, the PCF 815 derives QoS rules for the XR application and specific QoS requirements for the PDU set and configures the SMF 820. The QoS rules may use a 5G QoS identifier (5QI) for XR media traffic. The PCF 815 sends the QoS rules to the SMF 820. The PCF 815 may include in the communication to the SMF 820 PCC rules per importance of a PDU set. The PCC rules may be derived according to information received from the XRM AF 810 or based on an operator configuration. [0110] At 883, the SMF 820 establishes a QoS flow according to the QoS rules by the PCF 815 and configures the UPF to route packets of the XR application to a QoS flow, and, in addition, to enable PDU set handling. The SMF 820 also provides the QoS profile containing PDU set QoS requirements to the RAN 830 via the AMF 825. [0111] At 884, the UPF 840 inspects the packets and determines packets belonging to a PDU set. The packet inspection may comprise inspecting the RTP packets. When the UPF 840 detects packets of a PDU set the UPF 840 marks the packets belonging to a PDU set within a GTP-U header. The GTP-U header information includes a PDU set sequence number and the size of the PDU set. The UPF 840 may also determine the importance of the PDU set. [0120] The PDU Set Information comprises: [0121] PDU Set Sequence Number (PSSN). [0122] Indication of End PDU (E) of the PDU Set [0123] PDU Sequence Number (PSN) within a PDU Set [0124] PDU Set Size (PSS) in bytes. [0125] PDU Set Importance (PSI), which identifies the relative importance of a PDU Set compared to other PDU Sets within a QoS Flow. [0162] The processor may be further arranged to cause the UPF to: determine whether the received PDU includes a protocol extension header; determine whether the protocol extension header includes PDU set information. [0164] If the PDU is not part of a PDU-set, then the processor may be further arranged to cause the UPF to create a header for the received PDU. The configuration information may be received from the SMF in an N4 rule. The received PDU may be received in a downlink direction over N6. The header may comprise PDU-set information that includes PDU-set size. The protocol description may include protocol and payload type of the information contained within the received PDU.),
and the PDU Set-related information comprises at least one of an End PDU of the PDU Set (EPDU), an End of Data Burst (EDB), a PDU Set Importance (PSI), and a PDU Set Size (PSSize) ([0111] At 884, the UPF 840 inspects the packets and determines packets belonging to a PDU set. The packet inspection may comprise inspecting the RTP packets. When the UPF 840 detects packets of a PDU set the UPF 840 marks the packets belonging to a PDU set within a GTP-U header. The GTP-U header information includes a PDU set sequence number and the size of the PDU set. The UPF 840 may also determine the importance of the PDU set. [0120] The PDU Set Information comprises: [0121] PDU Set Sequence Number (PSSN). [0122] Indication of End PDU (E) of the PDU Set [0123] PDU Sequence Number (PSN) within a PDU Set [0124] PDU Set Size (PSS) in bytes. [0125] PDU Set Importance (PSI), which identifies the relative importance of a PDU Set compared to other PDU Sets within a QoS Flow. [0147] The UPF then determines and adds all or some combination of the following information when the packet is sent to the NG-RAN within GTP-U header: [0148] PDU Set Sequence Number. [0149] Indication of End PDU of the PDU Set. [0150] PDU Sequence Number within a PDU Set. [0151] PDU Set Size in bytes. [0152] PDU Set Importance, which identifies the relative importance of a PDU Set compared to other PDU Sets within a QoS Flow.).
Claim 2
With respect to claim 2, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the PDU type indicates a structure of a PDU, and the structure of the PDU is indicated according to uplink or downlink ([0111] At 884, the UPF 840 inspects the packets and determines packets belonging to a PDU set. The packet inspection may comprise inspecting the RTP packets. When the UPF 840 detects packets of a PDU set the UPF 840 marks the packets belonging to a PDU set within a GTP-U header. [0113] The above example relates to downlink (DL) traffic. Reciprocal processing is applicable to uplink (UL) traffic wherein the role of UPF 840 packet inspection is taken by the UE 835 which is expected to inspect uplink packets, determine packets belonging to a PDU set, and signal accordingly the PDU set to the RAN 830 for scheduling and resource allocation corresponding to an associated DRB fulfilling capable of fulfilling the PDU set QoS requirements (i.e., PSDB and PSER). [0162] The processor may be further arranged to cause the UPF to: determine whether the received PDU includes a protocol extension header; determine whether the protocol extension header includes PDU set information. [0164] If the PDU is not part of a PDU-set, then the processor may be further arranged to cause the UPF to create a header for the received PDU. The configuration information may be received from the SMF in an N4 rule. The received PDU may be received in a downlink direction over N6. The header may comprise PDU-set information that includes PDU-set size. The protocol description may include protocol and payload type of the information contained within the received PDU. [0166] The protocol description may be provided to the PDU by an application function. The protocol description may indicate a protocol and payload type. The protocol may comprise RTP or SRTP, for example. The payload type may comprise H.264, for example. The protocol and payload type may be used by a service data flow. The service data flow may support specific PDU-set QoS requirements over the 3GPP network.).
Claim 3
With respect to claim 3, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the QFI is an identifier for a QoS flow to which a corresponding PDU and a corresponding PDU Set belong ([0110] At 883, the SMF 820 establishes a QoS flow according to the QoS rules by the PCF 815 and configures the UPF to route packets of the XR application to a QoS flow, and, in addition, to enable PDU set handling. [0112] At 885, the RAN 830 identifies packets belonging to a PDU set (based on the GTP-U marking) and handles the packets of the PDU-set according to the QoS requirements of the PDU set provided by the SMF 820. In one implementation the RAN 830 node may use a different radio bearer with higher QoS requirement (according to the PDU set PSDB/PSER) to guarantee delivery of the packets of the PDU-set, while using a different radio bearer according to the SQI of the QoS flow for the non-PDU-set packets. RAN 830 may receive QFis, QoS profile of QoS flow from SMF 820 (via AMF 825) during PDU session establishment/modification which includes PDSB and PSER. RAN 830 inspects GTP-U headers and ensures all packets of the same PDU set are handled according to the QoS profile. This may include packets of PDU-set in a radio bearer carrying QoS flow 1. This may also include sending packets not belonging to the PDU-set in a different radio bearer carrying QoS flow 2.).
Claim 4
With respect to claim 4, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the PSSI indicates whether the PSSize is included in a PDU ([0120] The PDU Set Information comprises: … [0124] PDU Set Size (PSS) in bytes. [0153] If the packet received in the downlink direction matches the protocol description in the N4 rule then there are two additional options that need to be considered: [0154] Option 1: The received packet may not have any additional RTP header extension which include PDUset information (e.g. PDU-set size). In that scenario the UPF determines PDU-set information based on its implementation. [0155] Option 2: Some of the received packets include RTP header extension with additional information containing PDU-set information provided by the application server. In this scenario, the UPF must include the information contained within RTP header extension to corresponding information within the PDU-set information within GTP-U header. [0156] If the packet received in the downlink direction does not match the protocol description in the N4 rule, but the N4 rule includes an indication to perform PDU-set inspection, then for each received packet that does not match the protocol description, instead of the UPF to send the packet/PDU unmarked over the QoS flow with PDU-set QoS requirements, the UPF includes default PDU-set information within the GTP-U header when the packet is sent to the NG-RAN. In this situation the PDU-set size would correspond to the size of the received packet.).
Claim 5
With respect to claim 5, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the EDBI indicates whether the EDB is included in a PDU ([0070] In the context of XR media traffic, 3GPP SA2 WG recently introduced the concept of End of Burst Indication (EOBI) for signaling to the Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) the end of a data burst of multiple PDUs for XR media traffic. The EOBI is optional and is intended to assist the RAN in determining a data burst completion event and to enable low-level radio resource allocation and optimization of connected state discontinuous reception (C-DRX) for improved energy savings. The application server (AS) needs thus to indicate to the SG system (SGS) the EOBI given its XR traffic and associated XR traffic characteristics.).
Claim 6
With respect to claim 6, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the EPDU indicates that a PDU is a last PDU in a corresponding PDU Set ([0119] The determination of PDU sets is a prerequisite to control the PDU set flow through the 5GS and implicitly to control the QoS flow to DRB mapping within the QoS SGS framework. Therefore, to support PDU Set based QoS handling, the PDU session anchor (PSA) UPF identifies PDUs that belong to PDU Sets and determines the PDU Set Information which it sends to the NG-RAN in the GTP-U header. The PDU Set information is used by the NG-RAN for PDU Set based QoS handling as described above. [0120] The PDU Set Information comprises: … [0122] Indication of End PDU (E) of the PDU Set. [0146] When the UPF receives packets in the downlink direction ( over N6 reference point), the UPF checks if the packet matches any of the N4 rules provided by the PCF/SMF of the UE. [0147] Should the UPF determine that for a received packet in the downlink direction PDU-set inspection needs to be performed (based on the N4 rule) the PSA UPF can identify the PDU Set information using the Protocol Description and the received RTP/SRTP headers or using implementation specific means. The UPF then determines and adds all or some combination of the following information when the packet is sent to the NG-RAN within GTP-U header: … [0149] Indication of End PDU of the PDU Set.).
Claim 7
With respect to claim 7, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the EDB indicates that a PDU is an end of a specific data burst ([0070] In the context of XR media traffic, 3GPP SA2 WG recently introduced the concept of End of Burst Indication (EOBI) for signaling to the Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) the end of a data burst of multiple PDUs for XR media traffic. The EOBI is optional and is intended to assist the RAN in determining a data burst completion event and to enable low-level radio resource allocation and optimization of connected state discontinuous reception (C-DRX) for improved energy savings. The application server (AS) needs thus to indicate to the SG system (SGS) the EOBI given its XR traffic and associated XR traffic characteristics.).
Claim 8
With respect to claim 8, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the PSI indicates an importance of a PDU Set to which a corresponding PDU belongs ([0120] The PDU Set Information comprises: … [0125] PDU Set Importance (PSI), which identifies the relative importance of a PDU Set compared to other PDU Sets within a QoS Flow.).
Claim 9
With respect to claim 9, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the PSN indicates an order of a corresponding PDU included in a corresponding PDU Set ([0120] The PDU Set Information comprises: … [0123] PDU Sequence Number (PSN) within a PDU Set).
Claim 10
With respect to claim 10, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the PSSN indicates a serial number of a PDU Set in data flow ([0111] When the UPF 840 detects packets of a PDU set the UPF 840 marks the packets belonging to a PDU set within a GTP-U header. The GTP-U header information includes a PDU set sequence number. [0120] The PDU Set Information comprises: [0121] PDU Set Sequence Number (PSSN).).
Claim 11
With respect to claim 11, Kar disclosed:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the PSSize indicates a total size of all PDUs belonging to a PDU Set to which a PDU belongs ([0119] The determination of PDU sets is a prerequisite to control the PDU set flow through the SGS and implicitly to control the QoS flow to DRB mapping within the QoS SGS framework. Therefore, to support PDU Set based QoS handling, the PDU session anchor (PSA) UPF identifies PDUs that belong to PDU Sets and determines the PDU Set Information which it sends to the NG-RAN in the GTP-U header. The PDU Set information is used by the NG-RAN for PDU Set based QoS handling as described above. [0120] The PDU Set Information comprises: … [0124] PDU Set Size (PSS) in bytes.).
Claim 12
Claim 12 recites limitations similar to claim 1 except that it additionally recites “an apparatus for operating a User Plane Function (UPF) in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising: a transceiver; and a controller connected to the transceiver such that the controller is capable of being operated with the transceiver, wherein the controller is configured to” perform operations similar to claim 1. These limitations are disclosed by Kar [0157]. Claim 12 is rejected for that reason along with the reasons given for claim 1.
Claim 13
Claim 13 recites limitations similar to claim 2 and is rejected by similar reasoning.
Claim 14
Claim 14 recites limitations similar to claim 3 and is rejected by similar reasoning.
Claim 15
Claim 15 recites limitations similar to claim 4 and is rejected by similar reasoning.
Claim 16
Claim 16 recites limitations similar to claim 5 and is rejected by similar reasoning.
Claim 17
Claim 17 recites limitations similar to claim 6 and is rejected by similar reasoning.
Claim 18
Claim 18 recites limitations similar to claim 7 and is rejected by similar reasoning.
Claim 19
Claim 19 recites limitations similar to claim 8 and is rejected by similar reasoning.
Claim 20
Claim 20 recites limitations similar to a combination of claims 9, 10, and 1 and is rejected by a combination of the reasoning given for those claims.
PERTINENT PRIOR ART
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
1. Appl. No. 19/432,639 (hereinafter “Xu”) is prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) since it published as US 2026/0136420 A1, names another inventor (Jian Xu of Ofinno), and was effectively filed Jan 29, 2023 before Sep. 25, 2023 the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Xu [Abstract] disclosed receiving, by a first base station from a user plane function (UPF), one or more general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTP) protocol data units (PDUs) associated with a data burst. The data burst can include one or more PDU sets for an application of a wireless device. A last GTP PDU of the one or more GTP PDUs can include a GTP header indicating an end of the data burst. The method can also include sending, by the first base station to a second base station, a GTP PDU comprising a field indicating the end of the data burst, wherein the wireless device is dual connected via the first base station and the second base station.
2. Appl. No. 19/432,639 (hereinafter “Lohr”) is prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) since it published as US 2025/0031097 A1, names another inventor (Joachim Lohr of Lenovo), and was effectively filed Jul 19, 2023 before Sep. 25, 2023 the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Lohr [Abstract] disclosed extended reality (XR) in wireless communications. For instance, a user equipment (UE) can identify protocol date unit (PDU) sets and associated a PDU set importance (PSI) levels for a tethered XR device (e.g., XR glasses) to assist the UE in quality of service (QoS) fulfillment for XR communications in the uplink. Further, a Layer 2 protocol layer is introduced which can signal PDU set related information via a tethering link from an XR device to a UE.
Appl. No. 19/197,474 (hereinafter “Tsai”) is prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) since it published as US 2025/0267758 A1, names another inventor (Hsin-Hsi Tsai of Ofinno), and was effectively filed Nov. 2, 2022 before Sep. 25, 2023. Tsai [0357] disclosed the User Plane Function (UPF) may provide an End of data Burst indication (EOBI) in the GPRS Tunneling Protocol User Plane (GTP-U) header of the last PDU (of the last PDU set) of a Data Burst to NG-RAN. Such indication may be used by the RAN to decide when to put the UE to sleep. The UPF may decide when to insert the EOBI based on implementation specific mechanisms to detect the end of the data burst, or based on explicit indications from the AS. The UPF may detects the EOBI and marks the EOBI over GTP—U based on information provided by the AS in the PDU (e.g. “End” in the RTP extended header when only one media unit (e.g. NAL Unit) within each data burst). When the NG-RAN receives the EOBI in the GTP-U header, it may understand that a specific PDU is the last PDU of a given Data Burst and it may put the UE to sleep.
CONCLUSION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christopher Davis whose telephone number is 703-756-1832. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri from 11AM to 7PM ET. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz Sheikh, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER R DAVIS/
Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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